Fukudome Ryoji and Nagashima Toshihiko, Price Fixing, Michigan 2012

Fujikura Executives Indicted for Price Fixing in Michigan

Detroit, Michigan – In a shocking turn of events, two Fujikura Ltd. executives have been indicted for their roles in an international conspiracy to fix prices of auto parts used in automotive wire harnesses sold to Subaru and installed in U.S. cars. The indictment was filed on June 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit.

Ryoji Fukudome and Toshihiko Nagashima, both Japanese nationals, were charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses sold to Fuji Heavy Industries, an automaker more commonly known by its brand name, Subaru, for installation in automobiles sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Fukudome was employed by Fujikura as general manager of the Automotive Global Marketing Department from April 2001 to April 2006, and Nagashima was employed by Fujikura as manager of the Fujikura Wire Harness Center in Ohta, Japan, from July 1994 to April 2006, and as general manager of the Automotive Global Marketing Department from April 2006 to April 2009.

The indictment alleges that from at least as early as September 2005 until at least February 2010, Fukudome, Nagashima and their co-conspirators attended meetings in Japan to reach collusive agreements to rig bids and allocate the supply of automotive wire harnesses sold to Subaru. The indictment also alleges that Fukudome, Nagashima and their co-conspirators had further communications to monitor and enforce the collusive agreements.

Fukudoma and Nagashima are charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Fukudome and Nagashima are currently facing the consequences of their actions, and it remains to be seen what outcome will be reached in their case. In related news, Fujikura pleaded guilty to its role in the conspiracy in June 2012, and was sentenced to pay a $20 million criminal fine.

The charges are the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by each of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI.

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